Shortly after Reddit user kohlio posted the picture to the site under the heading "They killed this in my friends hometown back in Africa," posts started popping up questioning the veracity of the photo, followed by responses asking how anyone could fail to recognize the obvious forces at work -- namely, the trick of forced perspective.

"That thing is at least 20ft long. I couldn't imagine being one of the people hunting it," another user wrote.

But users quickly pointed out that the people in photograph are sitting quite far back from the crocodile, making the animal appear much larger than it probably is.

"For this image (and the monster hog image also posted in comments) they are using a "forced perspective" camera trick that makes the animal appear much bigger than it actually is (although the croc still is huge)," Reddit user GWS2000 wrote. "Notice nobody in the photo has a hand or arm hanging over the front side of the animal. They are sitting further back from the animal than the picture implies."

According to the caption, the crocodile was shot and killed by an animal control officer in Zimbabwe after it had attacked and killed a number of fully grown cows. Regarding its size, the caption offered the following estimate:

This beast of a crocodile was shot in the extreme north of Zimbabwe on the border with Mozambique and unfortunately, circumstance did not allow for a measurement. However, several guestimates put it over 16 feet. Our own estimate (based on a 25 mm cigarette filter lying slightly in the foreground) does suggest it measures closer to 15 feet. A return trip is planned to the little dam where this croc was shot, and a measurement will be taken from the wall upon which the croc is laying. Watch this space!